What is the best type of dough for meat pies or savory hand pies.

Biscuit dough, bread dough, or pastry dough

J3n456
  • Posted by: J3n456
  • July 28, 2021
  • 9152 views
  • 7 Comments

7 Comments

702551 July 29, 2021
If I were in your shoes I would consider the dough from this recipe:

https://www.pbs.org/food/recipes/minted-lamb-pasties/

courtesy of the Great British Baking Show.

If there's any place that could claim to be "hand pie country" it would be Great Britain.
 
702551 July 29, 2021
Note that this dough is a rough puff pastry, layered but not laminated like the classic puff pastry dough. However there are large blobs of fat which promote a flaky end result.

Other options would be genuine puff pastry (a la classic Beef Wellington) or phyllo.

Naturally you will want to do a test run first but people have been using all three for a long time. All three are proven.
 
AntoniaJames July 28, 2021
For a traditional hand pie, like a pasty, I would use this pastry dough from this test kitchen-approved recipe, from an old hand on Food52 whose recipes I trust: https://food52.com/recipes/18489-collards-and-cheese-pasties

For a savory hand pie that's more like a single-serving stromboli, you would use a bread dough with yeast in it. ;o)
 
drbabs July 28, 2021
If you want to do a deep dive into hand pies, check out @mrswheelbarrow's When Pies Fly. Cathy Barrow is an expert pie maker and when you read this book, you’ll feel like she is standing next to you, encouraging you as you go along.
 
J3n456 July 28, 2021
Thank you. I will check those out.
 
Nancy July 29, 2021
J3n456 - you'll see the recipe AJ recommends is not only from a respected cook here, but one born and bred in Michigan (hand pie country).
 
Nancy July 28, 2021
Have a look at recipes from Cornwall, Wales or Michigan, which have strong traditions of using filled savory pasties for working-men's lunches.
Start with one of these from The Spruce Eats, a Michigan recipe, Delia Smith (British cookery writer and football club owner).
https://www.thespruceeats.com/traditional-cornish-pasty-recipe-435042
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/12432/cornish-finnish-michigan-pasties/
https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/collections/perfect-pies/cornish-pasty-pie
 
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